Abstract:Objective To study the effect of QCC (quality control circle)-based continuous quality improvement scheme on improving the sterilization quality of hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers. Methods Sterilization quality of hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers in a hospital from August 2019 to July 2022 was analyzed. Pre-implementation period of QCC was from August to December 2019. The implementation of QCC-based continuous quality improvement scheme was initiated since January 2020, and the post-implementation period of QCC was from January 2020 to July 2022. The incidence of sterilization failure and sterilization quality of hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers in different time periods were compared respectively. Results Hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers were used 514, 1 245, 2 174, and 1 289 times in the periods from August to December 2019, 2020, 2021, and from January to July 2022, respectively. Sterilization failure rate of hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers was 7.78% in the period from August to December 2019, 2.57% in 2020 after implementing QCC activities, 1.47% in 2021, and 0.85% in the period from January to July 2022. There were significant differences in sterilization failure rates of hydrogen pe-roxide plasma sterilizers in different years (χ2=121.656, P < 0.001). The qualification rates of cleaning, disinfection and sterilization, and packaging of hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers in different time periods showed statistically significant differences (χ2=33.740, 66.558, 84.675, respectively, all P < 0.001). The qualification rate after implementing QCC activities was higher than before, and there was increasing trend year by year. Conclusion QCC-based continuous quality improvement scheme can effectively reduce the sterilization failure rate of hydrogen peroxide plasma sterilizers, and improve sterilization quality.